Building a mid-high range gaming rig. FX-6XXX vs 8XXX

[Scase]

So I'm building the GF a mid/high end rig, mainly to play skyrim with mods maxing it to the tits.
I'm looking to pick up an FX cpu for the new build and I'm not quite sure how much headroom the 6000 series will offer me or if I should just pick up an 8000 series one.

High end 6k vs say an 8320?

6300 would be 125$
8320 would be 165$
6350 would be 172$
8350 would be 210$

Now budget is not really much of an issue since I'm picking up parts piece by piece and building when I've got everything but, I don't want to blow more money than necessary. So I'm curious if a 6300 would be more than sufficient, and potentially leaving enough room for other games in the future or would I have to go higher end.

Thanks all.

 

[DeadGraphics]

the 8320 bears the 6350 since the 6350 is a waste, I would still go with the 6300 since it's the best bang for buck cpu out there in that price range, with the money you save you can get a better gpu or an SSD

 

[AznGOD]

The extra 40 dollars is worth it for the 8320. To sum it up 8-ish cores vs 6-ish cores, with better future proofing and overclocking. The 8320 has a lot less risk of bottlenecking in the future.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/AMD-FX-8320-vs-AMD-FX-6300

 

[DubbleClick]

What exactly is your budged and what parts do you need?

 

[ksham]

The FX-series is end-of-life. In other words, AMD left it. So the entire line is not future-proof so none of them is much more future-proof than the other.

For games like Skyrim, more cores do not help because it doesn't use them. I believe Skyrim only uses 2 cores. The FX-6300 is perfectly fine. Save the $40 for something else.

 

[Onus]

I would strongly suggest an Intel build instead. Check benchmarks if you like, but this game in particular runs much better on Intel CPUs than on AMD's offerings.

That is not to say, however, that AMD "sucks." If, for other reasons, you are determined to build an AMD machine, I would suggest the FX-6300 but on a good mobo that can overclock well, such as a 990FX or at the least a 970 with at least six VRM phases and heatsinks on those VRMs. Get a decent 92mm or 120mm tower cooler for overclocking. The CM Hyper212 EVO is not a bad cooler, however it is a bang/buck Loser, with any of its competitors offering similar performance sometimes for 30%-40% less money. Check out NZXT, Enermax, Rosewill, Masscool, or Xigmatek.
Edit: As Ksham pointed out, Skyrim does not use more than two cores, which is why the lower-wattage FX-6300 makes the most sense from a cost perspective.
Alternately, look into an i3 build, or i5 if you will have other significant uses besides Skyrim (and other MMOs) which can use more cores.

 

[Scase]

I would strongly suggest an Intel build instead. Check benchmarks if you like, but this game in particular runs much better on Intel CPUs than on AMD's offerings.

That is not to say, however, that AMD "sucks." If, for other reasons, you are determined to build an AMD machine, I would suggest the FX-6300 but on a good mobo that can overclock well, such as a 990FX or at the least a 970 with at least six VRM phases and heatsinks on those VRMs. Get a decent 92mm or 120mm tower cooler for overclocking. The CM Hyper212 EVO is not a bad cooler, however it is a bang/buck Loser, with any of its competitors offering similar performance sometimes for 30%-40% less money. Check out NZXT, Enermax, Rosewill, Masscool, or Xigmatek.

The reason for the AMD build is cause I already picked up an AM3+ socket mobo for a ridiculously low price on sale, as for the cooler I recently bought a Noctua DH-14 for my rig and have the old U14S I used to use so temps won't be an issue either.

I'm not overly concerned with OCing as she isn't a heavy gamer.

 

[logainofhades]

What motherboard did you get? That will determine CPU choices as well.

 

[ksham]

The FX-6300 will suffice. Plenty to play Skyrim with and plenty of extra cores for multi-tasking.

Also, heavily modded Skyrim does use up a ton of VRAM. So you would want at least 3GB VRAM. 2GB is fine, but can be slowed down.

 

[Scase]

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3, again not really a deluxe mobo but got it for 80$ instead of the 125-170$ retail. (Canadian so higher average prices 🙁 )

 

[ksham]

That is a really good motherboard. It will handle pretty much anything you throw at it. Definitely consider overclocking. It will help a little to pump up those cores a little. You don't have to do it right away, but the opportunity is there.

 

[Onus]

Excellent choice then; that one has 8+2 VRM phases.

 

[logainofhades]

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3, again not really a deluxe mobo but got it for 80$ instead of the 125-170$ retail. (Canadian so higher average prices 🙁 )

That is a very good board. I would, at minimum, pair it with an FX 8320 and bump the multiplier to 20 for instant FX 8350 speeds. You do not need to touch anything else, just the multiplier.

 

[Scase]

Well that settles it then, 6300 it is. thanks a bunch guys!

 

[Beezy]

The thing to consider is that the 6300 can reach higher single threaded performance than the FX 8 cores can *off the same voltage supply*. For games like skyrim specifically the extra single core performance will be better than 2 extra cores. may not be true for other games though. the FX 6300 overclocks very easily and with little effort. the 8 cores are a bit more work and heat.